TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW)___It is a race that some put on their bucket list and others use to test their body and mental toughness, but no one expected it to ever become a fight for survival.

The 117th Boston Marathon will live in infamy, not because of any record breaking times, but for the carnage that occurred at the finish line mark... Of the 27,000 athletes in the race, nearly 140 call the sunflower state of Kansas home.

Lyndi Stucky a Junior Advertisment Digital Media Major at Kansas State feels the race could have easily been her last.

In a phone interview, she said, "I was just finishing and looking for my parents, .i was actually heading back to the starting gate but someone else stopped me and pointed me in another direction away a block away, and then while I was there I heard the bombs go off."

Topekan and Boston Marathon runner Kevin Lemasters feels this days tragedy will take time to get over but runners will continue to do what they do best.

"It will be like the other American tragedies, everyone will pitch in and support the people but we will have to move on," said Kevin.

The 26.2 mile marathon honored the 26 people who died at Sandy Hook Elementary school and observed 26 seconds of silence, all before the blasts struck just several hours later.

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